YES, we got to St. Petersburg, and then we had more more more orientation.
After a bus ride, we arrived sort of near the dorm, where we are staying for this first weekend. There was an accident or two, which caused a traffic jam, so we walked the last few hundred yards, dragging our bags through slush. We had an hour to regain cognizant thought (hah!), and then our first Russian dinner. I felt surprisingly confident, walking into a cafeteria/buffet hybrid called “Marketplace,” going up front and ordering exactly what I wanted. I came out with the best bowl of borscht I’ve ever eaten, a little meat-filled pastry, and a bottle of pineapple juice. Okay, so maybe I goofed on the juice (I meant to get orange), but it was still really yummy.
After dinner, I took a surprisingly nice shower. Then I stayed up for a while in the teensy tiny dorm room just processing. Trying to check email. Trying to remember the Russian words for things like “bed.”
Sleep felt nice, although I woke up a bunch of times. Adjustment is rough. I had lots of nightmares that seemed more like night terrors, they were so relevant… e.g. getting into different situations where I didn’t know the right words, running into people in Russia who I was glad to not have to see this semester…
I’ll skip all of the boring stuff, like my very dairyful breakfast (yogurt and some soft cheese-stuff, purchased in the dorm convenience store) and more talking sessions.
At 1ish, we were divided into small groups and sent off with various tutors. I went with Stephanie, her tutor, and Katie (a student who is here for the whole academic year. Yes, there are multitudes of Katies everywhere). We walked around while the tutor jabbered at us in Russian about the city. I think I absorbed about 40-50% of it. Could have been worse. We took a bus to another part of town, and to return we took the metro WOW THE METRO I LOVE IT. Lunch was good, some vegetable soup and a ham & cheese filled pastry. We talked in “Russish,” switching between Stephanie’s and my broken Russian and the tutor’s perfect British English (she has not a hint of Russian accent).
After some more sessions, we were free. I started to feel kind of sick to my stomach again (was it something I ate? something I didn’t eat? lack of good sleep?), but ate dinner anyway. That was an experience. We went to a place called Biblioteka, where the waitress responded to us in English, gave us English menus, and sat us in a back room with only one table. The wall was painted like an American flag. Yep. So not much incidental contact with Russians or Russianness, as we have been encouraged to seek out, and also not much incentive to speak Russian the whole time. But I did get to interact with the waitress a little bit in Russian, which went well. The problem with sitting alone in a back room is that nobody comes to check on you ever, so you have to go hunt down somebody to ask “Где можно заказать?” (Where can I order?) and “Можно взять домой со мной?” (Can I take this home with me? –but I’m sure there’s a better way to ask for a take out box.
I think I will have more success with Russian-practice when I’m living with my host family. In fact, I’m certain of it. Lots of incidental and non-incidental contact.
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